Beautiful rendition of the Kouretes (Curetes) carrying out Their Dance about the newborn youthful Zeus (the infant at the base - there's a tripartite Thunderbolt behind Him also). Their Dance with its noise was undertaken to shield Zeus from Kronos - It was a … Safety Dance Now, I didn't just post this in order … Continue reading The Kouretes And The Rudras
Hercules
Psychopompi Germanica – And Why It’s Not Odin
In recent days I have run into a rather recurrent skein of assertions about Odin purportedly being a "Psychopomp". Now as for why this has kept coming up - the context has been fairly much what you'd expect. Namely, people looking to affirm an accuracy for that well-known 'Interpretatio' from Tacitus, whereby Odin is inferred … Continue reading Psychopompi Germanica – And Why It’s Not Odin
On The Symbolism Of The Gigantes & Gigantomachy [Part One: He Shall Tread]
We had earlier received a question as to the iconography of the Gigantes of Classical myth - more specifically, what was up with the Serpents they so prominently feature instead of legs in an array of renderings. And, because it's a very, very cool illustration for the concept - here's a beautiful 2nd-3rd Century (BC) … Continue reading On The Symbolism Of The Gigantes & Gigantomachy [Part One: He Shall Tread]
On The Equinox War-Rites Of The Indo-Europeans – As Illuminating The Roman Quinquatria [Part One – The Goddess-Oriented War Rites Introduced]
The Spring Equinox approaches (at least, at time of writing; some weeks have passed since then) - and with it, the onset of the War Season of the archaic Indo-Europeans. Whether the Quinquatrus and Tubilustrium of the Romans, situated within their Month of Mars (mensis Martius - whence our modern name for it: 'March'); the … Continue reading On The Equinox War-Rites Of The Indo-Europeans – As Illuminating The Roman Quinquatria [Part One – The Goddess-Oriented War Rites Introduced]
On The ‘Interpretatio Germanica’ Of Odin
In the dying days for the past year, we had yet another brew-up of that perennial comparative IE misapprehension that we can succinctly surmise as "Jupiter is Thor", with a side-order of "because Tacitus said so". Now, as it should happen, Tacitus in fact said no such thing (and indeed, it's the Hercules that Tacitus … Continue reading On The ‘Interpretatio Germanica’ Of Odin
On Ritual Substitution And Traditional Offerings [Part Two: When In Rome…]
Practicing an Indo-European religion amidst the Modern Age is no easy thing. One seems endlessly caught between the twin considerations of 'Authenticity' contrasted with 'Accessibility'. The former correlates to the quite righteous desire to 'do things properly' (and so they actually work) - customarily by seeking to follow reasonably closely within the foot-tracks of one's … Continue reading On Ritual Substitution And Traditional Offerings [Part Two: When In Rome…]
Thor Lives! – The True Outcome Of Thor Contra Jormungandr , Illuminated Via Indra’s Exile
Earlier yesterday evening I happened to the capped/linked post from a twitter handle - "Christians Posting Ws" - which bore the legend "Thor : Dies from serpent poison", with direct comparison to Christ in a manner that you can probably surmise. And I feel it worthy of comment. Not because of the usual "Pagan-Christian animosity" … Continue reading Thor Lives! – The True Outcome Of Thor Contra Jormungandr , Illuminated Via Indra’s Exile
On The Sky Father As Dragon Destroyer
Something we have often had cause to make reference to is the fact that this most prominent of Indo-European mythemes, the Smiting of the Demon-Dragon, is NOT exclusive in commissioning to the Striker/Thunderer deific. But is, rather, a case of 'Like Father - Like Son'. As with, perhaps uncoincidentally, the wielding of Thunder in various … Continue reading On The Sky Father As Dragon Destroyer
On The Equinox War-Rites Of The Indo-Europeans
The 19th of March, per the Roman calendar, marks a prominent observance to Minerva - so named 'Quinquatria' due to its occurring on the fifth day ('Quinque') following the Ides of March. And, as should perhaps come as a surprise to no-one by this point, we happened to notice some rather significant points of Indo-European … Continue reading On The Equinox War-Rites Of The Indo-Europeans
On Mythic Truth
There has recently been something of a furore in parts of the Germanic revivalist sphere over matters of what we might term 'scriptural literalism' and 'mythic truth'. We don't intend to get into the details as to what caused it - only to reproduce (with some slight editing) an endeavour at an explication as to … Continue reading On Mythic Truth